Microsoft Azure

We're welcoming back the legend that is Dave Whitney after a covid time lapse of years. Your chance to catch one of the best tech speakers in the UK software community! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- It's a tough time to be a technology professional. We're simultaneously being told that AI will change everything we know about the world, while simultaneously being told that the bubble is going to burst. Everyone is going to be redundant! AI will fail! AI will ruin the internet! AI can't do anything! It's disorienting and stressful trying to work out what a reasonable strategy should be to move forwards with this technology that appears to shift it's goalposts almost daily. In this session, we'll talk about understanding what AI really is, how to form a reasonable, governance friendly strategy around it, and what the sensible bets for the future are in the space. We'll do a deep dive into ethics, the human cost of content moderation, and having to be confronted by the reality of technical change in real-time. A survival guide to getting the most from the most controversial technology in a decade. An AI moderates warts and all deep dive into surviving as technology changes, without giving in to the hype during times of technology innovation and change. BIO: David is the Director of Architecture for NewDay, and the founder of Electric Head Software. Focusing on iterative software delivery, developer mentoring and cultural change - mostly working with London-based organisations. He speaks about software design, culture, and ethics in technology - rounded out by an assortment of talks about software that probably doesn't need to exist but makes the world a little more fun. David has previously served as the chief coding technical architect for JustGiving and helped market-leading organisations including JUST-EAT, Trainline and Vodafone improve their technical capabilities. David is a Microsoft MVP, has been part of the OpenUK Honours list for open-source advocacy, and is a twice bestselling author of children's books about programming. You can find his open-source projects on NuGet, npm and GitHub, follow him on Twitter @david_whitney, or check out his technical blog at [http://www.davidwhitney.co.uk/Blog](http://www.davidwhitney.co.uk/Blog). [http://www.electricheadsoftware.com](http://www.electricheadsoftware.com/) [http://www.davidwhitney.co.uk](http://www.davidwhitney.co.uk/)

Happy 2026! Our first meetup of the year will be back at Zühlke's offices near Old Street, with Guillaume Faas talking about better ways to handle exceptions, Jenny Martin talking about taming complexity with OOPSI, plus the usual drinks, snacks, and plenty of time to chat. Doors 18:30, the first talk starts at 19:00 and we'll be done and heading to the pub at 21:00 to continue the conversation. **Guillaume Faas: Throw exceptions... out of your codebase** Throwing exceptions is often used to handle errors, validations, and other specific use cases. It is considered by many to be the standard way of indicating a failure and providing feedback to the caller. However, this approach can cause significant issues like being hard to detect, obfuscating the flow or leaving the system invalid. In this talk, I want to show you a faster alternative that offers more transparency and predictability. We will see how to integrate ideas from the Functional paradigm, such as "Monads", into an Object-Oriented codebase using a real-life project: Vonage's open-source .NET SDK. This talk will be the perfect opportunity to show you what they are and how easy they are to use. **Guillaume Faas** is a Senior .Net Developer Advocate at Vonage, based in Thionville, France. In recent years, Guillaume has focused on sharing my experience through mentoring, public speaking, and open-source contributions; all aimed at helping teams grow and build sustainable software. With nearly 15 years of experience in .NET development, he's worked across industries as an engineer, coach, and now developer advocate. His current focus is on developer experience: building SDKs, writing approachable technical content, and speaking at conferences around the world. **Jenny Martin: OOPSI: Making Sense of Complexity** OOPSI stands for outcomes, outputs, process, scenarios, inputs. It’s a flexible, easy-to-use collaboration framework that helps agile and product development teams cut through complexity and focus on value. OOPSI is timely because it maximises the intrinsically human aspects of effective delivery, helping teams understand how and when to collaborate, while producing lean, example-driven artefacts that clarify scope and intent so both people and automation can work more effectively. In this talk, you’ll learn how to apply OOPSI to strengthen shared understanding, clarify assumptions, and support testable delivery, using a detailed, end-to-end example. **Jenny Martin** is a practitioner, facilitator, and product discovery specialist with over 25 years’ experience working at the intersection of technology, delivery, and human behaviour. She has spent more than 15 years working with Agile and modern product development teams, helping them make sense of complexity and build shared understanding. Known as The Collaboration Coach, Jenny focuses on practical collaboration that supports effective delivery. She is currently writing a book on OOPSI.

**This event is open to current university students only. Unfortunately, non-students will not be admitted. Thank you for your understanding.** Join **AWS Cloud Club** for an exclusive deep dive with **Viola Harperath**, Software Engineer at **Trainline**! We’re peeling back the curtain on how one of the world’s leading travel platforms leverages AWS to power seamless travel for millions. Whether you’re interested in cloud architecture, the current tech industry outlook, or just want to hear from someone crushing it in the field, this is for you. * **When:** Tuesday\, Feb 24th \| 6 PM \- 7 PM * **Where:** Clerkenwell Campus (Exact room TBA on the day!) * **Bonus:** We’ve got **AWS Cloud Club Merchandise**! Don't miss out on the chance to network and level up your cloud knowledge. See you there!

**Little Bay** is a popular restaurant in South Croydon that is celebrating 35 years of business with all dishes at half price. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- Travel: If you are arriving by public transport, please use the TFL journey planner (https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/) to review your travel time and plan your journey to the restaurant. If you are arriving by car, please use the awesome power of Google Maps (https://maps.google.co.uk/) to plot the best route - unless you have your own GPS. Important notes: * If you will be arriving after 12:45pm, please send Ben or Katherine a heads-up message. Sometimes restaurants request that unoccupied places are put up for grabs for walk-in customers so your place can't be guaranteed if you're unexpectedly late. * The organiser fee of £2 per person (including guests) will be collected on the day, so please bring the right change. We also ask that you stay until the bill is paid in full to be fair to everyone. * If you cannot come, please change your RSVP in advance. This ensures members aren't disappointed in missing out. Regular "No-Shows" - those who RSVP yes but don't turn up - will be removed from the group to enhance the experience for others. * This is a social networking event and is not the place to pitch your business, dish out fliers or sign people up to services. Please contact the organisers if you would like to collaborate on something you feel is relevant to the group.

*Code Green London is an independently organised Green Software meetup sponsored by the Green Software Foundation.* Please join us for the latest Code Green London x Climate Action Tech meetup, sponsored by the Green Software Foundation! Code Green London is a community meetup group which aims to build the biggest green tech community in London. Join us on the 24th to learn about the latest in green software and network with London’s fantastic green tech community. Our event is designed to foster meaningful connections and collaborations that can lead to further developments in green tech and new partnerships between innovators in the field. Whether you're a seasoned green tech professional, an entrepreneur looking to launch a new venture, or simply interested in learning more about the latest developments in sustainability and technology, this is the place to be. ** The timings:** * 6:30 pm - 7:00 pm: Drinks & food * 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm: Talks + Q&A * 8:30 pm - 9 pm: Networking ** The talks** * **Lee Cameron, VP of Product, Octaipipe** OctaiPipe is a deep-tech company developing transferable control solutions for data centres, ensuring critical digital infrastructure is safe, secure, and sustainable. Lee Cameron, VP of Product, will present how OctaiPipe has used its in-house distributed AI platform to deliver its AI for Cooling Efficiency solution, and how the company will move beyond cooling towards a holistic data-centre optimiser using collaborative, federated AI. * **Mark Bjornsgaard,** **Founder and CEO, System Two Group** Mark Bjornsgaard is a founder and CEO who has grown numerous businesses from scratch to scale. Mark will be talking about heat reusing data centers, taking advantage of his experiences of founding Deep Green and Heatio, and how that is impacting the distribution of compute and the growth of edge. ** The sponsors:** * [Red Badger](https://red-badger.com/) Red Badger is the digital product transformation consultancy for blue chips and scale-ups. We work at the heart of organisations on the tough, complex challenges that get them close to customers. Making a positive impact where others fail, we embed new ways of working and build high performance platforms primed for innovation. Red Badger creates lasting business change through integrating robust product design with deep engineering expertise. * [Green Software Foundation](https://greensoftware.foundation/) The Green Software Foundation is a non-profit with the mission to create a trusted ecosystem of people, standards, tooling and best practices for building green software. ** The everything else:** At Code Green London, we believe that green tech has the power to create a better future for all of us. Join us on February 24th 2026 for an evening of learning, networking and collaboration towards building a more sustainable world. Follow [Code Green London on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/code-green-london/) to receive information about all upcoming Code Green London events. If you have inquiries or would like to get in touch, please contact us by email at codegreenlondon@gmail.com. If you are interested in getting involved with Climate Action Tech, you can find all the details [here](https://climateaction.tech/). Code Green London is an externally-organised group. All events are the responsibility of the organisers so please contact them if you have any questions.

London TypeScript is back! We’re kicking things off with a smaller, more relaxed social before announcing our first major event of 2026. Four Quarters is a great chain of retro arcade bars, with plenty of classic games and a laid-back atmosphere. Come along to play a few games, meet some fellow TypeScript fans, and most importantly, share your ideas and suggestions for the future of London TypeScript.

We're back to our usual format of 3 speakers + Q&A followed by networking. 18:30: Doors open 19:00 Welcome by Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino (organiser since 2011) 19:10 Rob Poll, membot, 'A Tale to Two Products: how the wisdom we gained from Line-us helped develop [membot](https://www.membot.net/)' 19:30 Rob Hallifax, [Windfall Energy](https://www.windfallenergy.com/), 'How to start a hardware startup' 19:50 [Andrew Delamare](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-delamare-79a4111/), AWS Solutions Architecture Manager 20:10 Networking 21:00 End of event and move to a nearby pub There will be drinks (including non-alcoholic) and nibbles. **About our sponsors:** [Green Custard](https://www.green-custard.com/) is an award-winning AWS IoT specialist consultancy that helps organisations design, build, and scale secure cloud-connected products and solutions. With deep expertise across IoT architectures, data lakes, ML and agentic AI our IoT expertise spans from product innovation to smart factory innovation. We have full stack capability from embedded & mobile to cloud-native development. Green Custard partners with clients to deliver on their business outcomes whether modernising legacy devices, unlocking new value from existing data, or accelerating the delivery of production-ready solutions. Customers trust Green Custard for its technical excellence, pragmatic delivery, and we are proud of our customer success. [Aqua Libra](https://aqualibra.com/pages/flavour-tap) is redefining sustainable hydration through innovative, low-impact dispensing technology. Beyond its zero-sugar infused drinks, the brand has pioneered solutions such as the Aqua Libra Flavour Tap, a digitally controlled dispensing system that delivers chilled, filtered water with natural flavours on demand. By removing the need for single-use bottles and reducing transport emissions, the Flavour Tap enables offices, venues, and public spaces to offer great-tasting drinks with a dramatically smaller environmental footprint. Aqua Libra’s approach blends sustainability, smart technology, and convenience to meet the growing demand for healthier, greener beverage options.

Join us **the night before Elastic{ON} London** for an exclusive meetup, a perfect warm-up to the big day ahead! This is your chance to connect with the Elastic community, mingle with fellow attendees, and get energized for a full day of presentations at Elastic{ON} London. Don’t miss out! Register for the meetup and make sure you’ve also signed up for [Elastic{ON} London](https://www.elastic.co/events/elasticon/london) as well to experience a full day of learning and networking! **Date and Time:** Wednesday, February 25, from 6:00-8:30 PM **Location:** Davidson Building Address: 1st floor, 5 Southampton St, London WC2E 7HA Note: please use Exeter St entrance as the main entrance is closed after 6pm **Agenda:** * 6:00 pm: Doors open; say hi and eat some food * 6:30 pm: #Talk 1 - Re-thinking significant term discovery Mark Harwood - Ex-Elastic Core Developer and Lucene committer * 7:00 pm: Q&A * 7:10 pm: #Talk 2 - From Specs to Play: How I Built a Generative AI Game with Elastic + Microsoft AI Mike Richter - Principal Partner Solution Architect at Microsoft * 7:30 pm: Q&A * 7:40 pm: Networking and event wrap-up * 8:30 pm: Event close If you’re a long-time Elastic user or just starting your journey, this is the perfect opportunity to share ideas, meet new people, and get inspired. Invite your friends and RSVP on this page! **⚡️ Interested in giving a talk? ⚡️** Have you ever considered presenting on your Elastic use case? We welcome 5-10 minute lightning talks, 45-minute deep dives, and everything in between. If you're interested, please submit via our [CFP](https://sessionize.com/elastic-meetups/) or send us an email at [meetups@elastic.co.](http://meetups@elastic.co./)

**Welcome to our Official Members Club Night!** * See our new payment terms, prices & updates below! * **Suitable for Higher Intermediate to Advance players!** Many of our players compete at a Division 1 Level in the local leagues! * **Guests of a suitable standard welcomed (if interested in playing league matches do enquire)** * To maintain the level of the session, it may be necessary to direct a player to one of our other nights at their suitable level! **New Payment Terms, Prices & Updates (from 9/9/25)** * **Make your payment when you RSVP** (bank details below), don't leave it till later! (unless on waiting list) * If you don't complete the above you will be removed from the list/added to waiting list! See T&C's below! * **Members and Guests prices have increased!** (see below) **SESSION DETAILS** **VENUE** \- Harris Girls Academy East Dulwich\, SE22 0NR **TIME** \- 7\.30pm till 10pm **COURTS** \- 4 **SHUTTLES** \- Quality Feather Shuttles **COST** - **Annual Members £10 per session / Non-Members £14** * Pay when you RSVP, or you will be moved to 'Not Going' * Membership (only applicable for Wed sessions) For details regarding membership email - [sandra1.crossfire@gmail.com](mailto:sandra1.crossfire@gmail.com) Please note Membership may not always be available for different reasons! **BOOKING YOUR SPACE** **1 - RSVP & Pay via Bank Transfer to NatWest Account Details below** * **PLEASE MAKE YOUR PAYMENT WHEN YOU RSVP!** If you delay in making your payment, your spot will be removed without notice, and placed in the the waiting list or not attending **PAYMENT DETAILS** * Bank - NatWest * Account Name - Crossfire Badminton Club * Sort Code - 60-24-25 * Account no - 10579109 * Reference - Your Name & Session date * * **Waiting List** \- Be sure to have notifications on from Meetup to know if/when you are allocated a spot\! It is your responsibility to keep update\. Payment will be required promptly to secure your place\! Cancellation & No\-Show policies apply\. * If you take to long to secure your spot, you will be removed from the waiting list, giving other players a chance to book! **\*\*\*\* TERMS & CONDITIONS \*\*\*\*** **RSVP & UPDATING STATUS -** \~ You can only RSVP on this website! A prompt payment will be required unless you're on the waiting list. ( a delay in payment could mean you lose your spot! \~ **You can RSVP until 7pm the latest on Wednesday!** However do note the cancellation policy/times below! \~ If you have **RSVP'd and your plans change, please update/change your RSVP immediately!** So that other players have a chance to book! \~ No rackets are provided **CANCELLATION /NO SHOW POLICY & PENALTY FEE** **This session does not give a refund**, however, if you cancel your RSVP before 48hrs of the session start time, we are happy to transfer your payment to the following Wednesday session upon request! (Contact Sandra) **No Show Penalty**. A £5 penalty will be enforced which is payable before attending a future session. Repeat offenders will not be allowed to attend other sessions! \~ **Waiting List** **\- Please do keep an eye on any updates as you will be automatically added if someone cancels\, and required to make your payment ASAP to secure your place**. Cancellation/ No-Show policies apply! \~ Please understand that a 'No Excuses accepted!' policy will be taken, and understand that purpose of the penalty system is to maintain the value of the session, and allow us to plan accordingly. We thank you for your understanding and support! Toilets will be available, but changing rooms & showers will be closed, so arrive dressed to play **DRESS CODE, WELL-BEING, CONDUCT & EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES:** Please ensure that you wear suitable clothing and footwear for indoor sporting activity. Ensure than your jewellery is also kept to a minimal, and avoid wearing large ear rings, chains or bracelets/bangles. If your footwear and/or clothing is not suitable you might not be able to participate in the session. No refund of transfer of session fees applicable! Your health and safety in important to us, so if needed please seek advice from your doctor before playing any sports. You are also responsible for warming up/cooling down stretches to reduce the risk of strains/ injuries. Please understand that you play at your own risk as Crossfire Badminton Club will not be held responsible for any injuries incurred. We welcome players of all backgrounds, and treat everyone equally with respect. This is also expected from our participants. If you fail to do this, you may be asked to leave the session, or even banned from future sessions Thank you for all your understanding and support CrossFire Badminton Club

**Google Cloud enthusiasts!** **We at Go Reply, Reply’s team of Google Cloud specialists, are thrilled to host our first Quarterly Reply Google Techie Meetup in our London office — a space for developers, architects, and tech leaders to come together and dive into what’s new and next on Google Cloud.** **What to expect :** ### **The Rise of Agentic AI on Google Cloud** **AI is making the leap from tool to teammate. While traditional generative models laid the groundwork for synthesising information, agentic AI is now emerging as a technology with the potential to truly revolutionise industries. These are systems designed to reason, set goals, and execute multi-step tasks with minimal manual intervention. In this session, we’ll explore the fundamental shift toward autonomy in the AI landscape, and dive into how Google Cloud provides the infrastructure to build, deploy, scale, and get the most out of these sophisticated agents.** ### **Trends in 2026** **The year has only just begun but the Google Cloud ecosystem is evolving faster than ever. We have moved beyond the era of simple cloud migration and into an age of constant adaptation, where the ability to integrate advanced technologies into core operations is the new baseline for success. Join us for a high-impact session where we break down the most significant Google Cloud trends of the year and take a look at the hot topics you need to know to navigate the 2026 landscape with confidence.**

Hello and welcome to our next **GenAI UK x Cloud Native & Open-Source AI** meetup. This event brings together engineers, practitioners, builders, and leaders working across cloud-native platforms, open-source ecosystems, Gen AI, Data and Agentic AI. Our meetups are friendly, welcoming, and community-driven; everyone is welcome, whether you’re experienced or just curious. This session will include practitioner talks, demos, Q&A, and time for networking with like-minded peers. We run bi-monthly in-person meetups in London, bi-monthly online global events, and regional chapters across the UK, North America, and APAC. Food and refreshments will be provided for in-person events where a host venue is supporting. We are delighted to host this event in **London** on the **26th of February** with Netmind AI NetMind XYZ ([https://xyz.netmind.ai/](https://xyz.netmind.ai/)) is NetMind.AI's new agent platform where you can create your agents with just natural language. Agents on NetMind XYZ can now join moltbook. **Speakers and Sessions:** Speaker: Xiangpeng Wan, Product Lead at Netmind.AI Session Title: Gamifying Intelligence: Deploying Your Agents into the Arena Description: Got a custom agent built on Open Canvas or a unique ReAct loop? It’s time to see how it performs under pressure. Arena is an open-source sandbox where agents compete in multi-player environments—ranging from tactical "client poaching" simulations to high-stakes logic games. Speaker: Frank Contrepois, Independent FinOps Voice at Coblan Session Title: Coding standards - back to basics Description: In this session, I’ll walk through the coding standards behind the FinOps Toolkit and show how a few strict constraints unlock surprising flexibility at scale. The toolkit is unapologetically command-line-first and modeled on mature Unix-style ecosystems. **Agenda (GMT /UK ):** * 18:00: Welcome and refreshments * 18:30: Introduction - Ethan Sumner * 18:35: Xiangpeng Wan * 19:10: Break * 19:20: Frank Contrepois * 19:55: Close and Networking **Get Involved:** We are always keen to hear from: • Speakers — case studies, engineering deep dives, lessons learned, open-source talks • Hosts — organisations able to provide space for future meetups • Sponsors — support with refreshments, marketing, or accessibility If you would like to speak, sponsor, or host a future event, please get in touch with **[Ethan Sumner](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethansumner404/)**[ ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethansumner404/)via LinkedIn. You can find our YouTube Channel **[here.](https://www.youtube.com/@CommunityStackHQ)** This community forms part of the **[Community Stack ecosystem](https://www.meetup.com/pro/generative-ai-uk-community/)**[ ](https://www.meetup.com/pro/generative-ai-uk-community/)and follows the Community Stack Code of Conduct to ensure a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all attendees.

**Be part of the next Londroid event on Thursday, 26th February 2026, hosted by Vonage.** Spend the evening enjoying Android talks, conversation and community. Expect engaging sessions, the chance to meet others working in Android, and an opportunity to speak with the Vonage team. After the event, we’ll head to **The Fox** for post-event drinks and further conversation. **Tickets:** We have 100 tickets available. Don’t miss out. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for updates. **Schedule:** 18:00 – Doors open & registration 18:30 – Welcome from Londroid and Vonage 18:45 – Zachary Powell - *Beyond the Smartphone: Android’s Identity Crisis in 2026* 19:30 – Nicola Corti – *What I Learned from Publishing Libraries to Maven Central for 10 Years* 20:15 – Q&A and socialising 20:30 – Drinks at The Fox **Our Hosts and Sponsors** **Vonage** Vonage is a cloud communications platform that enables developers to integrate voice, video, and messaging into their applications using communication and network APIs. Whether you’re building video calls, creating a chatbot, or working with programmable phone numbers, Vonage provides the tools to make it happen **Novoda** Novoda is a digital product agency dedicated to building high-quality software. Their team of engineers helps companies scale, modernise and improve their development practices to deliver exceptional digital experiences. Join us for an evening of learning, collaboration and community. We look forward to seeing you there.

## DevOps Society Meetup with EDF **Location:** EDF UK, Nova North, 11 Bressenden Place London, SW1E 5BY **Time:** Doors open at 6PM **Drinks, snacks, talks, and networking.** We’re excited to invite you to our first in-person **DevOps Society Meetup** of 2026, proudly **sponsored by EDF**. This event brings together the DevOps, SRE, and cloud engineering community for an evening of honest conversations, real-world lessons, and networking with people who’ve actually done the work. A huge thank you to **EDF** for sponsoring the event and for providing the venue, refreshments, and support for our community. *** ## ️ Format of the Meetup: 6:00pm – 6:30pm — Networking on arrival, with food and drinks provided by EDF 6:30pm – 7:10pm — First speaker + Q&A 7:10pm – 7:20pm — Break for refreshments and networking 7:20pm – 8:00pm — Second speaker + Q&A 8:00pm onwards — More networking at the venue, then at a nearby pub. *Timings can vary slightly depending on Q&A.* *** We’re delighted to welcome **two fantastic speakers** to this EDF-hosted DevOps Society meetup. *** ## SPEAKER 1 – Steve Bowerman **Principal Software Engineer, EDF** ### Bio Steve is a technologist and thought leader with **25 years in the industry**, including **20 years in the utilities sector**, spanning startups through to large, established enterprises. Since stepping into the role of **Principal Software Engineer at EDF**, Steve has played a key role in reviewing and overhauling EDF’s approach to software engineering - bringing critical capabilities in-house and aligning teams with modern **DevOps and SRE principles**. His work focuses on long-term, sustainable transformation rather than tooling churn, helping large organisations evolve how they build, operate, and scale software. *** ### Talk Title **Rebooting the Enterprise: The DevOps Way** ### Talk Intro Building a DevOps mindset in a startup is relatively easy - it’s often the default DNA of modern engineering teams. Doing the same in a **large enterprise** is a very different challenge. In this talk, Steve will take you through **five years of transformation in 15 minutes**. He’ll share how EDF approached enterprise DevOps adoption, where things failed (and why), what ultimately worked, and the lessons learned along the way. Spoiler: **technology was the least difficult part**. This session is ideal for engineers, platform teams, and leaders working in complex organisations who want a realistic view of what enterprise DevOps transformation actually looks like. *** ## SPEAKER 2 – Matteo Emili **Director of Software Engineering, Avanade** **Bio** Matteo Emili is a Director of Software Engineering at Avanade UK and Ireland, leading the talent in Software Engineering and always looking at new ways of applying technology to solve business problems. He is a passionate Agile advocate and a technologist at heart, a Cloud Architect who is always driven by using technology as a vehicle for change and continuous improvement. A Microsoft MVP since 2010 (currently in the Azure DevOps and GitHub category), he enjoys sharing back as much as he can with the worldwide technical communities – especially within Agile and DevOps. He has founded several User Groups around Europe and he is a regular speaker at meetups and conferences. ### Talk Title **From Vibe Coding to Agentic Engineering: A Step-by-Step Guide** ### Talk Bio AI-augmented software development is evolving. What started as *“vibe coding”* \- intuition\-driven\, creative experimentation with AI \- is now moving toward **agentic engineering**, a more governed and intentional approach where AI agents actively collaborate with developers while enforcing best practices and organisational standards. In this session, Matteo explores how teams can transition from unstructured AI experimentation to **agentic workflows** that balance creativity with accountability. You’ll learn how agentic engineering enables: * Faster development without sacrificing quality * Built-in governance and standards * AI collaboration that scales across teams * A practical path from experimentation to production-ready AI-assisted engineering This talk offers a clear, pragmatic view of how AI will reshape software engineering in the years ahead - and how teams can adopt it responsibly. *** Please **RSVP to secure your spot**. Spaces are limited and available on a **first-come, first-served** basis. We’re really looking forward to getting the community back together again for our first event of 2026. [Our slack community](https://join.slack.com/t/devopssociety/shared_invite/zt-3mswuylw7-MhJg1IZ70rX_GpJTluG2Cw) \- join in and introduce yourself\! [Our Youtube Channel ](https://www.youtube.com/@DevOpsSociety)for regular podcasts with DevOps professionals + more DevOps content. [Website](https://thedevopsociety.com/) [To partner with us](https://thedevopsociety.com/partnerships) EDF website - https://www.edfenergy.com/ Thanks! From the DevOps Society team [Ben](https://www.linkedin.com/in/benwhitmarsh/) and [Vytas](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vytasdevops/)

**Please register on [Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ljc-meetup-at-capital-one-tickets-1981939102207) to join this event.** **About this event** LJC Meet-ups is a new series of events, aimed at giving all Community members an opportunity to present at an LJC event. Join us on 26th February 2026 for a London Java Community meetup hosted at Capital One. This event brings together practitioners exploring what it means to build modern, cloud‑native platforms and work effectively with AI‑powered development tools. As cloud adoption matures and AI coding agents become embedded in engineering workflows, this evening focuses on two critical themes: architecting for cloud‑native efficiency and leveraging AI agents more effectively in real‑world development. **Talk 1 – Tom Clifford‑Clarke, Lead Software Development Engineer at Capital One** *Keeping our heads in the cloud, using AI agents on the ground* Many organisations operate entirely in the cloud — but far fewer are truly cloud‑native. As architectures evolve and AI becomes a core concern, the gap between “running in the cloud” and “optimising for it” becomes increasingly costly. Tom explores why robust architectural patterns and standards are non‑negotiable today. Drawing on Capital One’s journey, he’ll cover practical approaches to Event‑Driven Architecture, serverless adoption, and service cataloguing strategies that unlock scalability, efficiency, and AI readiness — while improving the developer experience. **Talk 2 – Steve Poole, Community Director at LJC** *AI-Assisted Development and the New Risk Surface* AI-assisted coding is now a standard part of development. It accelerates delivery and reduces friction, but it also changes how risk enters our codebases. AI models replicate patterns at scale, including insecure defaults, outdated practices, and subtle flaws. In some cases, attackers can influence public training data or open-source projects, allowing weaknesses to spread quietly through tools and libraries developers trust. This talk looks at how AI-generated code fits into the modern software supply chain, and how speed, automation, and trust can be exploited. We'll examine how vulnerabilities slip past reviews, why unvetted AI output can bypass safeguards, and what these failures look like in real systems. With real-world examples, we'll focus on practical ways to review, test, and integrate AI-generated code responsibly. Strengthening your workflow instead of undermining it. AI isn't the problem. Unexamined automation is. The goal is not fear, but sharper judgment about when AI is helping, and when it needs a closer look. **Speaker Bios** **Tom Clifford‑Clarke** Lead Software Development Engineer at Capital One. Tom’s background spans large‑scale corporate software, end‑user products, and custom delivery tooling. He now focuses on cloud productivity engineering — improving developer experience and enabling teams to build high‑quality software at a sustainable pace. LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tbc2/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tbc2/) **Steve Poole** Community Director for the London Java Community. Steve is a Developer Advocate, DevOps practitioner and a long time Java developer, leader and evangelist. He’s been working on Java SDKs and JVMs since Java was less than one year old. Linkedin: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/noregressions/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/noregressions/) Huge thanks to our friends at **Capital One** for sponsoring this event and supporting our Community. This event is organised by RecWorks on behalf of the London Java Community. The London Java Community is sponsored by Hazelcast, Neo4j, Redis, and Discover

We will show a variety of methods for building agents that run in Microsoft Foundry. This covers the different types of agents: Prompt, Multi, and Hosted, as well as the development lifecycle using evals and traces.

The global Azure community is coming together again, and Columbus is officially on the map. On **Saturday, April 18, 2026**, the Azure Columbus Meetup is hosting our local edition of Global Azure 2026. This is a free, community-driven event packed with learning, networking, and all things Microsoft Azure. Whether you’re building modern cloud-native apps, experimenting with AI agents, deploying containers, automating infrastructure, or just beginning your Azure journey, this event is for you! **What to Expect** * Engaging technical sessions * Real-world Azure architecture & cloud-native patterns * AI, agents, automation, and modern DevOps * Food and drinks (because learning burns calories) * Time to connect with fellow engineers, architects, and cloud enthusiasts We’re lining up a strong set of speakers from the local and regional Azure community. Speaker announcements coming soon! **Who Should Attend?** * Software engineers (any language, any stack) * Cloud architects * DevOps engineers * Data professionals * AI explorers * Platform builders * Anyone who loves solving hard problems with great tools If you build, deploy, automate, scale, monitor, or optimize in Azure, you’ll feel right at home. **Why Global Azure?** Global Azure is a worldwide community event where Azure user groups host learning sessions on the same day across the globe. It’s grassroots. It’s technical. It’s practical. And it’s powered by people who genuinely love sharing what they’ve learned. And yes, it’s free to attend!

**Important time note:** Please plan on arriving between 5:30 and 6:00 as the elevators lock after 6 and you'll need to message us and we'll need to come get you. The building address is 4450 Bridge Park The entrance is 6620 Mooney St, Suite 400 You will need to scan your ID at the door to get a visitor badge. **Abstract** *Spec-Driven Development with GitHub Spec-Kit: From Intent to Implementation* Spec-driven development flips the traditional workflow on its head: instead of code being the source of truth, the specification becomes the backbone of design, collaboration, and delivery. In this session, we’ll explore how GitHub Spec-Kit enables teams to treat specifications as first-class artifacts—living documents that drive architecture, implementation, and verification. You’ll learn how Spec-Kit helps teams clearly express intent using structured, version-controlled specs that live alongside code. We’ll walk through a practical workflow that starts with defining system behavior and constraints, then progressively refines those specs into testable, automatable outcomes. Along the way, we’ll show how specs can reduce ambiguity, improve cross-functional collaboration, and make design decisions explicit before a single line of production code is written. This talk will cover: --What spec-driven development is (and what it isn’t) --How GitHub Spec-Kit fits into modern developer workflows --Using specs to align product, engineering, and AI-assisted development --Real-world examples of turning specs into implementations with confidence Whether you’re building greenfield systems, integrating AI into your stack, or trying to reduce costly rework, spec-driven development offers a scalable way to move faster without sacrificing clarity. Attendees will leave with concrete patterns and a clear mental model for adopting GitHub Spec-Kit in their own projects. **YouTube Link** TBA

Want to be a speaker? submit your talk to our Call for Presenters!!! https://sessionize.com/cbus-hug-2026/

TOPIC (Getting Ready for Spring Macro Photography): Insects are hatching, and flowers are blooming soon. Join us for a presentation on Spring Macro photography and get primed for the photographic season ahead. Meeting Schedule: 1. 6:00 - Introduction, Meet New Members 2. 6:10 - Old Business 3. 6:20 - New Business 4. 6:30 - Pre-Shoot Briefing/Education 5. 7:15 - Break 6. 7:30 - Image Critique 7. 8:00 - Adjourn Pre-Shoot Brief/Education: NIK Collection 8 Image Critique: Previous Photoshoot Images (iPhone images and Christmas Cards). If anyone has images they would like critiqued, please provide them at the beginning of the meeting. Providing Images for Critique: For now, I will collect images at the beginning of the meeting on a USB memory stick. My computer has USB-C ports, so a USB-C memory stick or one with dual (USB-C / USB-A) ports will be needed. Images should follow these format rules: JPG - 80% quality or higher 132 dpi resolution 2048 pixels across the long edge Embedded colorspace - sRGB

Excited to share that AWS Cloud Club's first meeting will take place on Thursday, February 26th at 5pm - 6pm! We’re collaborating with [Big Data & Analytics Association](https://www.linkedin.com/company/big-data-analytics-association/) to host [Alok Jha](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alok-jha-42abb928/), Head of Product Management for AWS Intelligent Application Protection at Amazon Web Services, for a tech talk + Q&A on his journey in leading cutting-edge innovation in industry. If you’re interested in cloud, cybersecurity, AI, or product management, this is a session you won’t want to miss. Make sure to join our Meetup and GroupMe to stay up to date for future events and collabs!

On Thursday, March 12, 2026, we will meet at the TEKSystems offices at 700 N Hurstbourne Pkwy. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m., and the presentations will begin sharply at 6:30 p.m. Along with an excellent presentation, TEKsystems will provide food. Please RSVP so we know how much food to order. Afterward, we will go to Brick House Tavern for drinks and food to continue the conversation. The session will also be broadcast at https://twitch.tv/TaleLearnCode. ### Much Ado About Nullable - C# Nullable Reference Types Explained In 2019 (C# 8.0) Microsoft introduced a feature that has generated a lot of confusion, debate and outright dissent. I'm talking about Nullable Reference Types. In this presentation, I we dig into this feature, explore why it exists, what problem it tries to solve, how it works, and how people have critiqued it, so that you as a programmer can decide if and how you want to use it.